nysepost.com

Trump nominates William Barr to be his next attorney general

Dec 07 2018

According to the Washington Post, former attorney general William P. Barr is the leading candidate to head the Justice Department.

In this November 26, 1991, file photo, President George H.W Bush, right, and William Barr wave after Barr was sworn in as the new Attorney General of the United States at a Justice Department ceremony in Washington.

If nominated, media reports said Republicans would likely respect Barr's previous experience and Democrats would view Barr as a Republican lawyer with no particular loyalty to Trump.

Juan Williams and former Bush adviser Karl Rove sparred over the qualifications of a top potential pick for U.S. Attorney General. Sources cautioned to CNN, however, that Trump makes the final decision.

In a May 2017 op-ed in The Washington Post, Barr argued President Trump made the right call in firing Federal Bureau of Investigation director James Comey. Barr later worked as a corporate general counsel and is now of counsel at a prominent global law firm, Kirkland & Ellis LLP. Barr is now rumored to be Donald Trump's top contender to replace ousted Attorney General Jeff Sessions.

To that end, in reference to the Uranium One deal that gave a Russian state-backed firm control of 20% of US uranium production, Barr said there is more of a reason to look into that deal than possible collusion between Russia and the Trump campaign.

Barr also wrote previous year that the administration's decision to fire James B. Comey as FBI director was "quite understandable" because, in his view, Comey had usurped the power of the attorney general when he publicly announced his recommendation not to charge former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton during the investigation of her private email server.

The post of attorney general has vexed Mr. Trump since the early days of his presidency, when Mr. Sessions recused himself from overseeing an investigation into possible collusion between Russian Federation and the Trump campaign.

President Trump could pick William Barr, who has already led the Justice Department, as his next attorney general. "(Barr) may be the kind of person who would be easier to confirm".

Unfortunately, beginning in July [of 2016], when he announced the outcome of the FBI investigation into Hillary Clinton's use of a private email server while secretary of state, he crossed a line that is fundamental to the allocation of authority in the Justice Department.

Senate Democrats have sued the administration over the appointment, arguing it wasn't constitutional. Barr was one tough lawyer.

Barr added that he "would have liked to see him have more balance on this group".